Chapter 1: Domino Effect
by Obake Kai
Summary: A single event in our childhood can define our whole lives. Naruto is intrigued to become Hokage but for the wrong reasons, a few words of wisdom from a man with silver hair changes everything and our story starts here.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: Crying

Light sobs erupted from a lush bush outside of the Ninja Academy, the leaves shaking with each heave. A young boy with hair like sunshine crouched under the bushes with a large scrape in his knee. His quiet sobs are suddenly ceased when a shoe scuffs the ground nearby and he quickly wipes his face before turning to look around. He sees legs and follows them up to find a masked man with silver hair.

"What are you doing out here, shouldn't you be in class?" he asked evenly.

Naruto sniffled before standing up and dusting the dirt off his shorts and looked up. "Maybe…" he said quietly.

The man questions him before suddenly lifting him up and carrying him under his arm like a sack of potatoes with Naruto kicking and shouting the whole time. "Ahh put me down! Let go!"

"I can do that." He says placing Naruto down on the front stoop of the academy then crouched down to look at him. "No more than 5 or 6 and you're already cutting class? Why is that?"

Naruto scowled and crossed his arms in a huff, like a little child denying he'd done anything wrong at all. "Why should I go? All the other kids make fun of me and no one wants to practice ninja stuff!"

"Do you ask them?"

Naruto uncrosses his arms and looks back and looks up at him with wide eyes. "Yeah, all the time but they just call me a freak and never let me practice with them.

"Well, you can't let that affect your studies. You'll never become a ninja that way."

Naruto scowled again. "Everyone always says that I can't become a ninja if I do this or don't do that, well you wait and see! I'll show you all that I can be the best ninja ever! I could even become Hokage one day then you'll all take orders from me!"

Kakashi paused then stood up and laughed a little. Naruto jumped up and down fuming. "Why are you laughing at me…?"

"Because, being Hokage isn't about telling people what to do; it's about keeping the peace in the village. You know; keeping people happy and making sure that we're all safe and happy together."

Naruto's expression grew blank and a little confused. "Together?"

"No one ever got anywhere by being angry and flustered all the time. You're supposed to find something you want then work to earn it, but-"he crouched down and put a hand on Naruto's head, ruffling up his hair. "The way you've got things right now, no way will you become Hokage."

Naruto raised his voice, his little round face getting red. "You just wait! When I'm bigger I will become Hokage, the best ninja ever and…I'll be so good, I'll make the whole wide world peaceful! You'll see!" he said then ran into the school, tripping on his own little feet as he went.

Kakashi sighed and shook his head, "Well, I very well could have started quite the little domino effect, couldn't I?"

Here…our story begins.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: A single moment

5 years later…

Years have passed since that fateful day outside the ninja academy; Naruto has since grown, become stronger, a little smarter and grows more determined to become Hokage with each passing day.

His assignment to Team 7 has been a rollercoaster of emotions, skills and personal problems.

Today he is walking up the stairs in the Hokage Mansion toward the library with Sakura Haruno and Kakashi Hatake.

"Bet you 500 yen that Granny's not even in her office right now," Naruto says as he, Sakura and Kakashi make their way to the library next to the Hokage's office.

"You really shouldn't keep calling her that Naruto, I swear sometimes I think you like making her mad, don't you respect her at all?" Sakura said.

"No, I don't because when she's not running from her work she's finding ways to push it off onto other people and she takes a vacation! I still can't believe that they made someone like her Hokage-!" His statement was cut off by Sakura's fist colliding with the top of his head and he hit the floor.

"Now I don't think I heard you right, you want to run that by me again Naruto?" she growled with her fist tightly clenched for another blow.

Kakashi stepped forward and put a hand on Sakura's head, "Now Sakura, let's not knock him out, we need him to help us today."

Sakura's cheeks turned pink with embarrassment and nodded as they continued up the stairs. Each step made a light squeak save for the 3 near the top that remained quiet; the hall before them was clean and well kept. Even paint coats on the walls making them orange-red and a golden rod border.

The buildings shape made the hall almost loop around like a swirl going upward, they made a turn and found double doors with a beautiful dragon on the front. The wood itself was painted a light pine green, the dragons scales were deep emerald green with red flames all around it, it's eyes a bright yellow almost glowing in the sunlight filtering in from the open doors and windows.

Upon opening the doors sheen of dust fell from the ceiling and Naruto and Sakura gaped at the horrid condition of the room. Cobwebs and dust everywhere and Sakura shrieked when she thought she saw a rat scurry across the floor.

"Well here we are, let's get started." Kakashi said cheerfully.

"What are we doing again?" Naruto said squatting next to Sakura and staring blankly into the room.

"We're here to sort things out so that finding things will be easier for lady Tsunade, so basically we're sorting the shelves and dusting." He said in his typical mellow tone voice.

Naruto and Sakura groaned and the three split up and started dusting and sorting. Sakura actually dug out a clipboard, paper and a pen and began making a log for everything while Kakashi blankly dusted a shelf with a brown feather duster and what appeared to be a worn out copy of "Make out Paradise" in his hands.

Naruto was two shelves away trying to pile all the books from the top shelf into his arms at once. Sakura was 6 shelves in the opposite direction, carefully cataloging a big brown book.

Naruto was audibly struggling to reach that top shelf without climbing on the bookcase; at least he was _kind of_ thinking.

"Naruto, don't you think it'd be easier to just-"

"Nope; I can do this and I am gonna get this whole shelf done with one trip to the pile." He says with a point at a pile of books beside Sakura.

"Why do we have a pile?" Kakashi asked squeezing the bridge of his nose.

Sakura answered instead. "I said just to gather the books off the shelf and bring them over here so I can sort them myself, he can dust and fix the shelves if need be."

Kakashi just sighed and continued dusting. As Naruto reached up for that last book he lost his balance and fell into the book shelf but pushed back, dropping everything and knocking the shelf into tipping back and forth once then start falling toward Naruto. Kakashi rushed to his side but couldn't stop the heavy metal shelf or the several heavy books that toppled down on their heads.

Sakura heard the crash and ran over to the big shelf that now almost tented over her sensei and teammate. "Kakashi Sensei, Naruto; are you alright?"

"Just fine Sakura, could you maybe find us a broom and perhaps a hammer and nails because this very large shelf seems to have crushed the smaller wooden shelf behind us."

"Sure thing, I'll go look." She set the clipboard down and ran out.

Under the shelf Kakashi's body acted as a tent over Naruto's smaller body; shielding him from the shelf and broken wood.

"Uh…thanks Kakashi Sensei, what happened?"

"You didn't listen to me…again. You won't get anywhere like this, you've got to learn to take direction."

"I take direction all the time; I just chose to do this differently. A good Hokage doesn't always use the same old tricks; he's got to be different!"

"Yes I know, but you'll never make the _whole wide world_ peaceful if you can't take simple direction." Kakashi said then noticed a strange look come over Naruto's eyes.

"You…" he said in a hushed tone. "It was you…"

"What…what are you talking about?"

"That day…I was just a kid, it was you that told me I'd never become Hokage if I kept skipping class and being selfish." His eyes were wide, deep sapphire blue.

Kakashi's grey eyes softened a little as he stared at him. "You remembered that day all that time ago?"

"Of course…it's why I changed the reason why I wanted to become Hokage. I want respect and to bring peace to the village, I want to be strong and I want love." He held his breath after saying those last words.

Their eyes held a steady gaze for who knows how long, Naruto felt a flutter in his chest as Kakashi's gaze suddenly flickered from softness to something else, an almost fond look came into his eyes.

"Kakashi Se-"he cut himself off then looked at him seriously. "Kakashi…I-"

At the sound of footsteps approaching Kakashi pushed himself as far from Naruto as he could get, which at the moment was arm's length above him.

"I found the broom but a Shinobi down stairs said to just throw out the shelf, they had meant to replace a few of the shelves in here so we should be careful."

"A little late for that isn't it?" Naruto said under his breath.

In one swift movement, the large bookshelf was lifted off of them and raised above Sakura's head. "COME AGAIN?!" she yelled and Naruto cowered under Kakashi who seemed to smile at Sakura.

"Well thank you Sakura, my shoulder has been bothering me. That would have been a hassle to lift on my own. Well done,"

Sakura's glare changed to a cheeky little smile and she set the shelf down gently. "OH, you're welcome Kakashi Sensei."

Naruto stayed seated on the floor as Kakashi picked up his book and started walking toward a waste bin in the corner of the room. "Let's clean this up."

As they did that, Naruto pondered the heat that had spread out on his cheeks and brought the butterfly in his heart to life. The look in Kakashi's eyes, he only ever saw that in one other place…that place was in Sakura's eyes, every time she looked at Sasuke while he had still been there…a look of longing, love and caring. He'd stared at Kakashi because of the fluttering and he'd stared back because he was swooning…over Naruto?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: So much trouble

As the sun began to fall, painting the village a warm orange and making the hot summer day a cooler on setting evening, they finished cleaning the library out until everything was spotless…save for the neatly stacked books on the desks and several piles of broken book shelves. All the dust and cobwebs were gone, any guests-unwelcome ones that scurried about-were caught and set free outside.

The shelves each had a label to them and so did the books themselves, tabs of paper taped to the spines and written in neatly. Sakura left the log she'd made on the desk and stepped back with a sigh.

Naruto stepped up beside her and smiled, she was right, the whole room looked ten times better than when they started. He however had a large amount of dust on his body since he did most of the cleaning anyway. Kakashi dusted…the same shelf the entire time while Sakura made logs of the books that had been cleaned off the shelves. He was left with all of the dirty work but in the end, the room was cleaned the job was done…but-

"Why did I have to clean everything?"

Sakura silenced him with one good swipe to the back of his head and continued smiling. "Lady Tsunade is going to be so-"

"CIRCUMSIZED BITCHES…!" They heard from the floor above.

Naruto grinned like the Cheshire at the door, "Sounds like someone pissed her off."

Sakura rushed past him and he followed her out the door toward the Hokage's office one floor up while Kakashi slowly walked with his book in hand. They rounded the corner and ran toward the open doors where they saw a few broken items piled up against the wall. Inside they heard Shizune's voice.

"Lady Hokage, please calm down." She tried helplessly.

They ran in but Sakura dove back out into the hall while Naruto got hit with a vase and was knocked down.

"I KNOW IT'S HERE AND YOU ARE GOING TO HELP ME FIND IT!" she yelled at the top of her lungs throwing item after item out the door.

"Shizune what's going on?" Naruto groaned from the floor.

"Lady Hokage lost a very important document and she needs it for the briefing." Shizune ducked to avoid a large drawer being flung at her.

Sakura walked in and seemed blind to a large box that was heading straight for her head.

"LOOK OUT!" Shizune and Naruto exclaimed.

She however blankly avoided the box and calmly went over the desk where she lifted up a glass of coffee that had somehow survived the fray beside it and pulled a file out from under it. "Lady Hokage…" She said evenly and Tsunade was about to raise her voice but she saw the file label with a coffee ring in the middle. "Is this what you're looking for?"

She stood up straight and took it calmly, all signs of rage gone! "Oh, there it is, thank you Sakura."

Naruto and Shizune sighed when Kakashi walked in and stood beside Sakura. "We also finished cleaning, Lady Hokage." He said evenly.

"That's great Kakashi, and I've already got your next assignment." She said with a grin while Naruto peeled himself off the floor.

"What's up?" he said.

"One of our sentries was found knocked out at his post this morning, when he was asked what had happened he said a woman had made her way into the village, she tried to slip past him but when he spotted her she-" she stopped and opened the folder. "Jumped on him and asked him not to yell."

Naruto and Sakura tilted her head.

"When he began to fight back she tried to calm him down by stepping back but then he tried to subdue her and she knocked him down then apologized before knocking him cold."

"Why…" Naruto began.

"He's unsure but he said she has long black hair, a petite body frame, round face, brown eyes and very good manners?" she quirked an eyebrow at the last part.

"I'd like you to join the night patrol, they've got her isolated in one section of the village near the school but we need more Shinobi to make the plan work."

"What plan?" Naruto asked.

"Having her isolated in one section of the village is working and they've managed to keep her there but whenever they tried to close in on her they nearly lose her, she almost got away today. This is why we need you. We're going to use you to find her, if you sweep through the area, one of you will find her and when you do, radio the others and they'll make their move."

"What, you're going to put all your eggs in one basket?" Sakura asked.

"Yes, unfortunately most of our Shinobi are away on missions and this is our only chance to catch her. While her initial attack was...not so threatening, the fact that she had to sneak into the village itself was a threat on its own." She stood up. "Go prepare yourselves and get some rest, I want you on top of your game this evening."

"What does she look like again?" Naruto asked.

Tsunade reached into the folder and pulled out a drawing. "We had one of our more artistically skilled ninja do a composite sketch based on the definition our sentry gave."

She handed them the image of a girl no older than thirteen, long black hair, a petite frame with wider hips and prominent brown eyes.

Naruto tried very hard to memorize the image, this mission was super important and the perfect chance for him to impress Kakashi Sensei after the little fiasco in the library. If he caught this person, maybe Kakashi would praise him more…he can't really recall when Kakashi has ever praised him. Of all the people he wanted to prove himself to, Kakashi was the most important ever since that day all those years ago.

The evening descended upon the village, the orange light of the sunlight faded away into pale moonlight. The village delved into the cool summer evening and crickets came to life, fireflies floated in the air, riding the gentle breeze.

Naruto walked toward the ninja academy and as he passed the entrance by he saw the school yard was full of fireflies, drifting around like the bustling center of the village.

He stopped when he saw a group of cats crowding around a bush that shivered with life, someone was settled inside it. He carefully reached for his knife but froze when someone placed their hand on his shoulder.

He whipped around and was struck directly in the center of his face, knocking him down. He looked up as his vision drifted between fuzzy and clear. The image was a blurry mess of purple and black; the intruder?

"Kaka-shi…" he tried numbly but his head was swimming.

The woman crouched before him, close enough to where he could see her eyes, glowing bright green. "Well, I didn't think they'd send you right to me." She said her voice deep and humming, like a cello.

"You…can't-"he started then he heard someone start screaming, impossibly loudly. She looked up at someone and he turned to see her looking at whoever had been inside the bush and the cats were all screaming as well, sitting right beside her. It was a ghostly uproar that echoed around the village, no doubt waking everyone up and drawing all kinds of attention to that area.

He heard someone that wasn't that person yell at the woman. "STOP-"they started when she took off running. Six shadows suddenly followed her and a bright pink looking blur entered his vision.

"I don't have a lot of time!" said the shadow that came from the bush. "You'll be fine in just one moment."

A loud clap later and the shadow, was gone and his vision was clear, he didn't feel dizzy anymore and he felt fine. He sat up and looked around, he felt his cheeks heat up and pouted a little. His chance to prove himself just went right out the window.

"Naruto!" he heard from behind and he looked to see Sakura and Kakashi running over.

"Hey, did you guys see her?" he asked.

"No, the other Shinobi are chasing her now, are you ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine but I don't mean her, there was someone else here, she was hiding over in the bushes!" he pointed to the bush that no longer had the shadow or the cats, everything was gone. "There were cats surrounding it and they all started screaming at the same time!"

"Naruto I think you were just imagining it, why were you lying down?" she asked.

"The intruder hit me but then the shadow in the bush…did something to make my head clear up…I was all dizzy then-"

"It was probably a medic ninja that was hiding out, he probably went with the others."

"Regardless, we did our job and now we let the other Shinobi handle her. Our job is done and we can go home." Kakashi said pulling out his book and reading a line before calmly walking away.

"Wait Kakashi Sensei, don't you think we should take Naruto to see Lady Tsunade, what if he's hurt?" Sakura asked.

"No, Sakura I'm fine really; she didn't hit me that hard." He tried but she pointed at his forehead.

"No I mean for those hallucinations about the cats, there are no cats anywhere." She said flatly before standing up and offering him her hand.

He took it and stood up while Kakashi stood nearby reading. "Well, we did have a long night so why not we take tomorrow off and see how you're feeling the day after Naruto?" he offered.

Naruto thought it over, he didn't want to rest and he needed to train more than ever! She got the drop on him and he didn't even notice her! "No, I'll be fine to train tomorrow."

Kakashi lowered the book and looked to Sakura. "Why don't you go ahead home Sakura, you enjoy your day off." She nodded and waved before walking away.

Naruto watched her walk around the corner and head home then looked back to Kakashi with big eyes. "Sensei, I'll be fine to train tomorrow!" he complained as Kakashi put his book away and started walking toward him. "I can train tomorrow, I feel just fine, I'm even willing to start right now if you-"he stopped as Kakashi leaned down to almost touch noses with him and held his chin, staring directly into Naruto's eyes that looked grey in the moonlight. Kakashi's silvery hair almost shimmered and his grey eye looked mystic, hiding a cryptic secret that no one knew but him.

"Naruto…go home and take tomorrow off, the last thing I want to see is you hurt. I couldn't stand it before and I won't stand for you to get yourself hurt by being stubborn," his gaze almost intensified. "Don't make me have to put you in bed myself…"

Naruto felt his knees weaken and his already red face was aflame and his heart was doing double time, did he really just say that to him?

"Naruto," he said, his sultry voice making Naruto nod blankly, words lost to him. "Go home and go to bed…now." He pulled back and just walked away.

Naruto remained still then collapsed to his knees and began panting…he looked back and put a hand on his chest, feeling how fast his heart was going and trying to regain his breath…

His eyes wide and his breathing labored he gasped. "Was that what sex is like?"

Upon returning home he wanted nothing more than to take a bath and get some sleep. He did want to flop onto his bed first though, he needed just a second to recover from Kakashi's steaming little onslaught.

He threw himself onto bed only to feel a lumpy surface…a body under the covers. He jumped up with a yelp as the lump also yelped. Naruto turned and yanked the blanket off the bed to reveal a girl. A very pretty girl with a petite body and big eyes, her face was round but she looked…adorable.

"What-"he started but she raised her hands and her eyes looked terrified.

"Please don't yell, I'm sorry I broke in but I wanted to make sure you were Ok." She said quickly.

Her voice carried evenly and her speech was clear, like a flute. This is the second person he's met that had a voice like music.

"Who are you?" he asked evenly.

"My name is Lilli, I was hiding in a bush earlier, you saw the cats." She said when he realized that she had his walrus night cap on her head, and her hair was stuffed inside it.

"Why were you in a bush?" he asked. "Also, why are you wearing my hat?"

"I was trying to hide from the cats and I like this hat." She said calmly, getting off the bed and removing the hat.

Her long black hair cascaded down to her lower back, wispy and dark. He suddenly remembered the picture that Tsunade showed him earlier. "You-"he said.

She looked at him and he tensed up. "You're the one who attacked the sentry!"

Her eyes got big and she dropped the hat. "Wait, I can explain-"

Naruto ran for the door but she snapped her fingers and the door locked. She kept her hands up and her tone fairly even. "Please calm down!"

Naruto then turned and charged at her but she sidestepped him, moving much faster than he thought she could and drove her elbow into his back, knocking him down. He whipped around and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying into the door.

"Sorry lady!" he threw a kunai knife at her but it went a little rogue and went at her face. "OH NO!" he shouted and it struck her making her head snap to the side. All was quiet.

He saw something hit the floor behind her, a black silk ribbon, now torn in two. He then looked up to see her looking directly at him with pink cheeks. "Uh oh," she said.

Naruto suddenly felt his breath catch in his throat. On top of her head were two large black fox ears and she frowned and her hair seemed to puff a little bit like a frightened cat.

Naruto's eyes widened and he pointed at her. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"

"I am in so much trouble is what I am man!" she screamed back.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Answer my questions

Naruto backed up a step only to trip backwards and fall on his butt as she raised her hands to try and calm him. "Please, stop shouting! I'm not here to hurt anybody!" she begged.

"Why should I believe you?" he said with a growl to his voice.

"Because I'm here to help you, not hurt anyone!" She whispered out, her fox ears hugging her head, like a frightened animal.

His scowl faded and he tilted his head a little. "Help me…? Why do I need your help?"

She approached slowly and knelt down before him, bowing respectfully. "My name is Lilli, I'm not from around here, and I'm here to help you with your Sensei and to protect you."

He paused for a moment, taking her in. She wasn't very big but clearly stronger than she looked, she had fox ears on her head and her wide eyes were brown and frankly, rather lovely. Her face held nothing but honesty, she wanted him to believe her really badly…she wasn't being aggressive; she wasn't doing anything to betray her as a liar, he decided to give her a chance. "Where are you from?"

She smiled softly. "Another…dimension if you will. I'm what people call a Fairy; I assume you've heard the stereotypes but I can easily divulge any that you…have?" she was cut off by Naruto bursting out laughing and was now lying on his back. She frowned and furrowed her brow.

She pressed her ears against her head and growled in her throat. "It's not funny, what are you laughing at?"

"You expect me to believe that you're a Fairy from another dimension? I'd sooner believe Sakura asking me on a date!"

"I'd sooner expect Sasuke to come waltzing back into the village with an apology." She snapped standing up angrily and Naruto fell silent; those painful memories still fresh in his mind. Her flushed red face quickly faded and she sighed sadly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap like that but I need you to believe me. I can prove that I'm telling you the truth."

"I guess-what's that?" he started but veered off pointing at a bushy fox tail that popped up behind her.

She jumped a little and giggled awkwardly. "Oh, when I get flustered it puffs up," she pushed it out of sight where it remained hidden behind her back. "Sorry about that."

He stayed silent for a moment then looked up at her. "So how are you going to prove it?" he said awkwardly.

"Since the ears and tail aren't enough to convince you I'll just show you another extra appendage on my body and-"she held up a finger for silence. "Before you say anything, no it is not a third boob." She turned from him and pulled her hair over her shoulder, revealing her back. Pale like the rest of her and toned, the half-tank top had a small corset ribbon design down the middle.

Naruto sighed with disappointment. _One day, one day…_he thought.

Lilli reached behind her and pulled the bow free and her top loosened, Naruto watched in captivation as the back separated and the straps fell from her shoulders, exposing her naked back. He couldn't see anything in front but he wasn't looking anyway; from her back sprouted two large butterfly wings, purple, see through and shimmering in the pale moonlight.

They had a ghostly purple to them with a black outlining, like a monarch butterfly but purple with a sort of sparkle to them.

"What-"he exclaimed quietly as they shuddered with life and fluttered softly. "Are those," he began.

"Yes, they're real and yes you can touch them but very gently, they're powerful but fragile." She said and took one step backwards, closer to Naruto. He reached up and gently touched the edge of the wings and felt a little jolt through his finger when he spotted a strange seam through one of her wings.

He reached out and touched it with the tip of his finger, making her jolt a little and look over her shoulder at him. "What happened there?"

"Oh, when I tussled with the guard the other night, he tackled me to the ground and broke my wing; it's still healing a little but for the time being I can't fly." She said pulling her shirt back up and tightening the corset style ties on the back of her tank top. "That's why I was in a bush and not in the air instead."

"I'm sure Grandma Tsunade could fix this, she's fixed some pretty crazy stuff before," he said but Lilli shook her head sadly, finishing the knot and turning to face him again.

"No, she can't know I'm here. The thing is, your people aren't supposed to know my people exist, we're sort of a secret to your kind which is why I could get in a lot of trouble if I were to be-"she was cut off by a pounding at the door. "-caught!"

"Naruto, open the door." A booming female voice said from the other side of the door.

"Naruto, you've got to hide me! They can't find out I'm here or they'll send me back and I won't be able to protect you." The pounding continued and Naruto tried to think when he had an idea.

"I've got it, follow me!" he grabbed her arm and led her down the hall from the main area of his house and into his bathroom where he shut the door and began stripping.

Lilli winced a little and crossed her arms. "I'm not sure I like this plan anymore."

"Stop complaining now get in the tub!" he ordered.

The Shinobi at the front door picked the lock and walked into his house. They didn't hear anything until a strangely loud thud made them turn their attention to the bathroom.

Lilli was refusing to get in the tub which was now full of steaming hot water. She held onto the edges to stay out with her face precariously close to the water while Naruto tried to push her in. "How you humans bathe in such hot water is beyond me!"

"Just get in the tub, they're coming!" he hissed.

Just then they knocked on the door and they heard a loud splash within, making water pour out from under the door. "Naruto we're coming in." said the leader.

She opened the door and Naruto was sitting inside the tub with a wash cloth in his hands. "Hello…" he said awkwardly.

The leader of the group of Shinobi was Kiku Hadaka, a real hard-ass and sometimes she focused so hard on the hidden meanings in things she missed what was right in front of her. Her flowing green hair was tied into a tight bun and her fellow cohorts looked like clones of each other, all wearing the standard Shinobi uniform with masks on.

"Naruto people were complaining of what sounded like fighting and screaming coming from your house, we came in to check and make sure you were alright." She said flatly. "The woman that attacked you before got away and we know she attacked you, we figured that if there was a commotion coming from inside your home, maybe she'd come after you."

"Yeah, I'm fine and sorry about the noise I was…killing a spider." He said in a low voice. So she got away, even with 6 ninja's chasing her down, she escaped.

She quirked an eyebrow at him and surveyed the bathroom when she noticed something about his clothes, though strewn about everything was visible, accept... "Where's your underwear?"

Naruto scowled. "What, you've never gone commando before?"

She sighed with frustration as a light pink hue came to her cheeks and she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, just keep the noise down; you're scaring people," she said and as she turned muttered under her breath. "More than usual…" she headed out while her fellow ninja followed her but one stalled at the bathroom door more, looking at Naruto then giving him a thumbs up to which Naruto chuckled a little when a hand came out of nowhere and pulled the ninja along behind Kiku. He laughed a little as they made their way out.

They all left and once the front door closed Naruto sighed when bubbles began forming under him. He jolted and backed up and Lilli burst through the surface, sopping wet and gasping for air. She turned and glared at Naruto. "I am a Fairy, not a fish." She said angrily but evenly.

A little while later after everything was cleaned up and Lilli had dried off, she settled onto the cot Naruto had made up for her on the floor. "Thank you, for allowing me stay here tonight,"

She was no longer wearing her knee high pink boots with purple laces or her elbow length gloves, those were set down by the door and she dragged a hair brush she'd pulled out of a bag she'd hidden under Naruto's been earlier through her long dark hair.

"I'm still curious about a few things, but I believe you when you say you're here to help me out." He said as he buttoned his pajama shirt and walked over to bed, now wearing his hat.

"What are you curious about?" she said as she put the brush back into the bag and pushed it under the bed.

"Well, where are you from?" he crossed his arms and looked at her.

"A place called The Sunni Orchid Village, we're called that because in my home Orchids are a party flower and well we are world renowned for our parties and festivals. It's also a tropical island so it's very sunny, not very deep of a meaning but it fits and it's always been that way." She smiled.

"Do you have ninja's there?" he said uncrossing his arms and sitting down on his bed.

"No, but I've been closely surveying the way your people seem to work and my people are fairly similar. I'm like you in rank and my teacher Kassandra is like Kakashi in rank." She waved her hand back and forth.

"What about your leader, are they like Grandma Tsunade?" he said scratching his cheek.

"Not as loud or angry or trying to hide from her work but yeah, our leaders name is Ferngazer Tidal. She was appointed last year, the previous leader Stargazer died. In my home our names are a little different than yours, very nature based and 'gazer' replaces the end of their name. The reason for that is actually a part of our history, our leader gazes out over our home, watching us thrive and keeping our home alive. Being our leader is a position very noble and dignified…I frankly couldn't imagine having a leader like…her."

"I couldn't at first but she hasn't killed us all yet so that means she's doing something right." Naruto chuckled and Lilli nodded when her eyes seemed to drop. "What is it?"

"I've been gone for quite a while…I haven't been home in a long time and I guess I miss it. Besides, your home is…a little like mine…mine is just smaller." She looked around the room and back to the floor while Naruto lay down on his bed and looked at her.

"What's your house like?" He tried; maybe talking about it more will make her feel better.

"Well, I live on a big weeping willow tree, it was cut down about half way a long time ago but the treehouse was built on top of it and the tree itself is still alive so it's beautiful, some branches grew into my house and I love seeing the evergreen leaves at night, they shimmer and it's just spectacular."

"Do you live with anyone?" he continued.

"Yeah, I have a big group of friends; Blaze, Tucker, Yura, Wanderer, Tanzi, Kiko, Ziggy and Moni oh, and my housekeeper, Jay Bird and my cat Twinkle. All of them live in my treehouse with me, it's a little crowded but we're happy."

"You have a housekeeper?" he asked intrigued.

"Yeah, I kind of just found her wandering around and she moved in with me. She's not built for fighting like the rest of us and she feels safe in my house so she stays there a lot and her way of earning her keep is to clean for me when I'm away."

"Are you gone a lot?" his voice lowered a little as he slowly became drowsy.

"Yeah," she said.

"So…what are you exactly?"

"I'm a Fairy that specializes in water, a Water Fairy and I can do things like-"she looked over at the table in the next room with a glass of water on it and her eyes grew from brown to a glowing purple. The water in the glass suddenly formed a ball and levitated out of the cup and floated over to her where it hovered beside her and she grinned. "-this for starters,"

She smiled and snapped her fingers making the ball vanish and Naruto's eyes were wide, all signs of sleepiness gone. "That's awesome!"

"It's actually second nature to me, what's fascinating is that there are no others like me, I'm the last of my kind; Water Fairies I mean."

"You're the only one?" His expression fell a little.

"Yeah, my whole species seemed to have just vanished. Everyone woke up one day a long time ago and they were all just…gone. Then when I showed up…they said it was a miracle."

"You just showed up?"

"I was only a baby when my teacher Kassandra found me by the river; she was just a teenager then. I'd just been born but there was no trace of my parents. I was just left there, wrapped in a big leaf." She said evenly, not seeming to care at all.

"How'd they find you? Did you get left on someone's doorstep?"

"No, I was in the woods. They heard me start screaming because a monster was trying to eat me."

"What tried to eat you?" he exclaimed.

"A creature in my home that actually has a lot to do with the woman who attacked you before."

"What?" Naruto said.

"A creature known as a Shadowlark, they are born out of shadows and a dead fairies blood spilled in battle. You'd think that with specific circumstances like that there would be very few but, they've inhabited our forests making travel very treacherous, forbidden at night!" she said then looked him directly in the eyes. "That woman's name is Beautr'e; she's here to steal the power that resides deep within you. She needs it to control them and turn them all into their cousin beasts; the Bloodlark. The Bloodlark are born from blood spilled out of hate."

"Why does my power matter?" he said lowly.

"She needs it, your peoples power is magnified by ours making whatever you have stronger if she gets it. With so much power she'll turn all the Shadowlark into Bloodlark and make an army to destroy my home. She believes that we've wronged her in some way, she used to teach there too but she defected all of a sudden and no one knows why and now she's after us." She said hollowly.

"So you're here to…?"

"To stop her, I have to take her back to my home because you see she ripped a hole through the wall that separates our two worlds. She came here, somehow already knowing about you and I followed her because…" she paused. "She planted a bomb in our school, there were kids there, little kids and the only way they were saved was because one of the really little kids found it by accident. They were evacuated and the bomb was detonated because it couldn't be defused. The school was destroyed."

"She tried to kill kids?"

"Yes, I chased her but before I could catch her she escaped here and she would have killed that guard if I hadn't distracted him…unfortunately that gave me up to her and she knows I'm here too. I had to knock him out so I could go after her."

"If all of this is true then why not tell Grandma Tsunade?"

"Because, our people are supposed to remain separate, that's what that wall was for. I cannot be found out, they'll send me back and you'll be left without protection." She stopped and smiled. "Now…about your other problem…Kakashi, he's twice your age at best and while very handsome, completely out of your league anyway. You're in love with him but you can't do anything about it."

"I-"he stopped and sighed as a blush rushed into his cheeks, "Yeah, I am…I just don't know what I can do about it."

"Well that's where I come in sweetie, if you keep my secret I'll help you with him." She said as she seated herself on his bed beside him.

"How are you going to help me?" He scoffed.

"One of the perks of being a Fairy is that we have all kinds of abilities, one of mine is being able to read people like an open book. He's got it bad for you too, I saw that little threat he made earlier. _Don't make me have to put you in bed myself_… what a line." She giggled while his face flushed red.

"Ok…so what can you do?"

"Start by telling you to be patient, you're just a kid right now. You can't have anything with him right now, you've got to grow up honey and you know very well that will take time but I can easily handle that." She stood up and pointed at him. "You have quite a lot of things coming for you in the near future! It's going to be intense man and you already know one of those things!" She said valiantly.

"What, the trip with Pervy Sage?"

"Yes indeed! You've only got a little time left here until you have to leave yeah?"

"Yeah,"

"Alright, well with that time that you've got left I'm going to help you drive him mad with flirtatious desire! We are going to butter him up good!" She slammed her fist into her open palm and Naruto jumped a little.

"What…?!"

"Then once you're gone, his thoughts will be plagued with nothing but you, wanting to see your smiling face every moment! He will yearn for your affection and once you've returned…you will be old enough to make things happen and finally live happily ever after with him, you can bask in each other's love and you'll be happy!"

"Are you sure it'll be like that?"

"100% positive my friend; tomorrow we start!"

Naruto fell off his bed in astonishment. "Start what?"

"Operation: Flirt begins tomorrow!"


End file.
